Infant&#39;s feeding device



aBARAcATE 2,669,234

INFANTS FEEDING-DEVICE Filed Aug. 2, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l i Inventor:

Stephen Baracate,

His Atborlhegs'.

Feb. 16, 1954 s. BARAcATE INFANTS FEEDING DEVAICE 2`,Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2, 1952 Irlven'iibor': Stephen Batacabe,

'the resilient characteristics of the nipple.

Patented Feb. 16, 1954 iearsNT OFFICE INFANTS vFEEDING DEVICE Stephen Baracate, Troy, N. Y. Application August 2, 1952, Serial No. 302,341

"This invention has tc do with an improved type of infant nursing device. More particularly,- it relates to such a device in which the-flow of liquid food from the nursing bottle to which it isf attachable is valve controlled, having particular reference to valve means which additionally controlsthe passage of air, thereby tending to eliminate infant colic; and the provision of such a device is a principal object of the invention. s

or resilient plastic nipples. When no proper air Ivent is employed with such nipples, infant colic almost inevitably results, depending largely upon This y 6 Claims. 101428-252) on the extension and arranged that the valve will be submerged in the liquidlfood, or milk, when the bottle is up-ended; 5 and-.will remain so submerged until the bottle has been substantially completely emptied.

Other specic objects of the invention are the provision of such a device in which the valve means is eccentrically mounted and preferablyA Conventional nursingl devices employ rubber l weighted such as, for example'by a ball check.-

element, or other suitable means, to be suspended in submerged position at all times within the liquid food; in which the device may be used inl conjunction with a nursing bottle having an air is so because some nipples when new are more l valve means, preferably located-in the bottom of resilient than others, that is to say, relatively soft or hard Primarily, however, all-,nipples after a period of use become soft or lose, to a certainiextent, their necessary resiliency characteristics. For this apparent reason they tend to collapse during use after a substantial amount of the milk in the bottle has-been withdrawn because of the resulting vacuum that is created inthe bottle. Consequently, air is by-passed along the sides of the collapsed nipple into the oralnipple, which nipple is provided with a valve seatto receive the same around the outlet port of the nipple; and wherein-the nipple and casing are cavity and infant colic results. It is significant that such rubber type nipples vary in -their 1 resiliency characteristics when new, and all ulti mately decline or deteriorate as to such-charac:

-, a bottle; in which a supplemental valve means is utilized preferably associated yor cooperatively connected with the extension member and the.l

nipple, the latter 4members being relatively mov- 20 able with .respect to each other, whereby to con-f y trol the iiow. of milk and air from the bottle through the nipple; in which, in this latter cony nection, the valve means includes a secondary needle type` of valve projecting through the provided with correlated indicia to indicate the open'and shut position of the combined liquid'V teristics during use so that they can never be said'` 30 and air valve means.

to be constant or reliable in this connection.` Too often, it would seem, cures for infant colic have'- been prescribed when the proper curein thisrespect would better be the removal of the cause,i namely, the conventional resilient rubber type nipple. y

It has long been recognized that it would be a:- distinctvadvantage to overcome this problem of infant colic, and this has now been accomplished. by means of the present invention.

Generally, therefore, it is also an object of the invention to overcome the foregoing difficulties, and disadvantages and `to provide ank infantsl feeding device that is simple of constructiont,

Other objects of the invention will in part be? obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The-invention accordingly comprises an article;

of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relationfof elements which will be exemplified inthe articler hereinafter described,I and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and. 40 objects 'of the invention reference should be had ,to the ,following detailed description taken vin,- connection with the'accompanying drawings, in-

which:

Fig. 1 isa side 4envanonm view of one modincaeconomic of manufacture, as readily and easily tion of the device attached to a nursing bottle.

,and in, a partlyup-ended position for use;

Fig. 2 is a sectionaiview through the bottomofV the vnursing bottle illustrating an air valve means preferably usable with the device;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of oneform of the device attached to the open end of the nursing bottle;- y

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional Aviewof the liquid control-valve taken alongthe lines 4--4 a longitudinal passageway, therethrough as lwell=f of Fig. 3;V

as -through the nipple, and valve means n iountedl IFig. 5 is a' side elevational view of a fragmencommunicating with theA passageway, the same being so constructed and tary portion of another form of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of Fig. 5, on a sornewhat smaller scale, illustrating valve control indicia on the casing and nipple;

Fig. 7 is a sectional transverse view of Fig. 5 illustrating the relatively movable nipple and secondary valve means in opened position;

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of Fig. 7 taken along the lines 8-8 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional detail view. somewhat enlarged, of a portion of Fig. '7 illustrating the relatively movable nipple and 'seoondary valve means in closed position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings there is indicated generally at lll one .form of the device attached to an infants nursing bottle I I having a screw-threaded open neck I2. This device comprises an internally threaded casing I'3 adapted to be applied to the neck I2 against a washer, or gasket Ill.

`Gonnected to the casing is a non-collapsible nipple le which may be made of vany Ysuitable non-resilient material in the :form of any desirable substance, preferably of fa plastic. 'This nipple 'may be solid, as shown in the drawing, or hollow. An extension l'I5 on the nipple,v or, suitable length is adapted to project into the neck of the bottle but terminating short of, or marginally inwardly, of 'the open neck. A narrow passageway Il extends longitudinally of the nipple and through the extension I6 to one or more transverse openings i8. An annular groove indicated generally at I9 surrounds these openings.

Eccentrically mounted on the end of the extension I6. ls a liquid 'flow control valve indicated generally at 20. 'This constitutes a cylindrical member 2l which is held in position by 'a set screw 22 having a lug thereon which loosely iitsinto the groove I9 to hold. thevalve rotatably positioned on the extension or sh'at I6. A small opening 23 is drilled into the bottom .of the cylinder 2I and communicates with a central bore 25 therein. Loosely movable within this bore is a ball Acheck valve elerrient 25.

In operation, the bottle II, when up-ended, will cause the milk to ll the entire neck area and the ball check valve will l'always be pulled into downward position because of its eccentric mounting aided by the weight Iof the ball so that it will always be submerged in the milk remaining in the bottle. While a vacuum may oc cur due to the withdrawal of the milk it ywill be obvious that there can be no danger-of collapse of this type of nipple. However, I prefer to employ an air vent in the bottom `of the bottle as illustrated generally at 23. This vent coniprises a cylindrical extension 21 havingone or more openings as communicating `with the "bore 25 therein. The lcylinder 21 is sealed on the inside as shown at and the open end of the bore vis closed by a plug 3l having a longitudinal opening 32 therethrough communicating with the bore 23. The bottom of the bottle, of course,

may be countersunk so 4that the plug al is flush' therewith. VWhen the bottle is in kvertical posiM tion a ball 32 in the bore 29 will cause it to seal the opening 32 in the plug 3l by overlying the opening 32 `as shown by the dotted 'line position of the ball 32. When the bottle II `is upended yair 'will be permitted to rush through the opening 32 and through lthe openings 23, the ball 32' having fallen to anout of the wat' position-against the sealed end au of 'the cylinder 21.

; material such 'as plastic.

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 5 through 9, I employ the same type of casing, bottle and valve means above described and no further description is considered necessary in this case. However, a secondary valve means indicated generally at 33 is employed completely to shut off the flow of milk, and of more importance, to shut oli the flow of air through the nipple vwhen all, or substantially all, of the milk has been Withdrawn from the bottle as will more fully appear hereinafter.

The secondary valve means is provided by an arm or `disk member 34 on the extension I5 as indicated in Figs. '7, 8 and 9 of the drawings. y'A slotted opening 35 in the arm 34 receives a pin 36 secured in the casing I3. A small diameter hole longitudinally drilled through this pin will provide an air ventfor the device. Adjacent the member 34 the extension I6 is threaded as at'31 and the nipple 38 at its base is correspondingly threaded vto receive the threaded portion 37 of the vextension I6. Preferably, the nipple is hollow as 'shown in the drawing and is also made O a Thon-'resilient or non-collapsible, that is, hard The lextension I6 beyond its lthreaded portion extends into the nipple in the for-rn fof a needle ras at 33 and is adapted to engage the open, or loutlet end, of the nipple in a seat 40 provided therefor. The needle 39 has 'a .longitudinal passage therethrough as at ASI and 'this extends through the extension portion I6 where 'it alsocoinznunicate's with radial lor transverse openings 42 to communicate with the valve 20. The 'needle is tapered at `its end so that it --will properly seat in the end of the nipple and at this `point -is also provided with a plurality off passages t3 for the passage of liquid therethrough and through the nipple when the needle and seat are separated. This `separation operation is "accomplished by giving the nipple, -which is rotatably mounted inthe casing, a slightrotational movement whereupon it moves away from the 'arm or disk 3 llfas shown in Fig. "I,

` other than a slight'rotation'to right or left being determined by the pin 3B. When the nipple is moved slightly in the opposite direction it moves against 'the arm 3&1 and the needle becomes seated in 'the end of the "nipple to prevent passage of milk, and more important still, air through the end of the nipple. In order to determine whether the secondary valve `means 33 is opened or closed. indicia indicated generally at 44 is `provided on l the casing and nipple as shown 'in Fig. 6.

'lt Vwill 'thus be seen that the objects hereinbefore set forth may readily and eiciently be attained and since certain 'changes may be made in the `alcove larticle 'and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing .from the scope thereof, itis vintended that all matter contained 'in the above description yor shown in vthe accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention 'herein described, and `all lstatements of the scope of 'the invention which, as a matter Aof language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention whatl `claim new and desire 'to secure by Letters 'Patent is:

1. In an in'iant nursing device, the improvement comprising the combination of a casing adapted to be applied to the open 'neck of a nursing "bottle containing a liquid food: a nom-collapsible nipple connected to said casing; an extension on said nipple adapted to project into said bottle but terminating marginally inwardly of said open neck, and having a longitudinal passageway therethrough and through said nipple; valve means, communicating with said passageway, mounted on said extension adjacent said open neck in a manner such that the valve will be submerged in said liquid food when said bottle is up-ended and will remain so submerged until said bottle has been substantially completely emptied; and valve means on said extension, cooperatively associating said extension and said nipple, said means and said nipple being relatively movable with respect to each other, whereby to control the ow of liquid food and air from said bottle through said nipple;

2. In a device as dened in claim 1, and further characterized in that said last named Valve means includes a needle valve projecting into said nipple, and said nipple being provided with a valve seat for said needle to receive the same around the outlet port of said nipple.

3. In a device as dened in claim 1, and further characterized in that said last named valve means includes a rotatable control member connected to said extension, and a stop element on said casing to limit rotation of said member, and to permit rotation of said nipple to open and close said last named valve.

4. In a device as set forth in claim 3, and wherein said stop element comprises an air vent.

5. In a device as set forth in claim 3, and

wherein said nipple and casing are provided with correlated indicia to indicate the open and shut position of said last named stop means.

6. In an infant nursing device, the improvement comprising the combination of a casing adapted to be applied to the open neck of a nursing bottle containing a liquid food; a noncollapsible nipple connected to said casing; an extension on said nipple adapted to project into said bottle but terminating marginally inwardly of said open neck, and having a longitudinal passageway therethrough and through said nipple; and Valve means, communicating with said passageway, being eccentrically mounted and weighted by a ball-check valve element on said extension adjacent said open neck in a manner such that the valve will be submerged in said liquid food when said bottle is up-ended and will remain so submerged until said bottle has been substantially completely emptied. STEPHEN BARACATE.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,569,693 Young Jan. 12, 1926 2,043,186 ODette June 2, 1936 2,594,114 Baracate Apr. 22, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 131,912 Germany July 7, 1901 

